Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Isn't there a more beautiful sentiment that the promise, With this ring, I thee wed? With the exchange of wedding rings during the wedding ceremony, a couple promise each other their love for as long as they live.

Awww!

But why do the bride and groom slip the wedding ring onto the third finger of each other's left hand?

Apparently, this tradition was started by the Romans, who believed that the vein in this finger led directly to the heart. As the wedding ring is a declaration of eternal love, the third finger of the left hand became the obvious place for the wedding ring. Science have since proven this theory wrong, but it is still the 3rd finger on the left hand that bears the wedding ring.

From a more practical perspective, as most people are right-handed, the left hand is the less dominant. The ring worn there wouldn't be as likely to get in the way or to catch on things and is less likely to be damaged.

Some traditions has the ring on the right hand for the engagement and moved to the left during the marriage ceremony. In another tradition, the ring is first placed on the thumb during the wedding, them moved to the first and middle before finally to the third finger of the left hand.

"The Chinese developed a theory (about the ring finger), which is actually really interesting
and a bit fun to try. If you look at your left hand, each finger is a
representation of the past, present and future generations within your
family. For example, the thumb represents your parents, your index
finger represents your siblings, the middle finger represents yourself,
your fourth finger represents your life-partner and the fifth finger,
your pinkie, represents your future children.

"Now it’s time for a little experiment. Place your hands together and
bend your middle fingers together, allowing for your knuckles to touch.
When doing this, allow for your other remaining fingers to touch.

"Begin to pull each finger apart, individually. You will see that your
thumbs will pull apart because you are not destined to be with your
parents forever. Now do the same action with your index finger and
pinkie; you will see the same results. According to the Chinese theory,
you are not meant to be together forever with your siblings, as well as
your future children as they will leave the home and start a family of
their own.

"Now try to do the same action with your ring finger, which represents
your life partner. When you try to separate these fingers apart, it
doesn’t lift as easily as the other fingers, right? This is because you
and your life partner are meant to be together forever."

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Eloise had the wedding of her dreams. It had all been
arranged and done in a month. Now that the wedding night was upon her, Eloise’s
fears raised their heads. Dane was a stranger to her. She realized that she
shouldn’t have insisted that they wait for the wedding night to have sex. It
wasn’t that she was that traditional, but Dane should have been given the
choice.

Because Eloise had a secret.

Dane and Eloise left for the beautiful Maldives for a two-week
honeymoon. In this idyllic setting, life threw Eloise a curve-ball.

Because Dane had a secret too.

She could have put up with anything, but this could shatter
her belief in the fairy-tale.

How was she supposed to deal with another wife?

About the Author

Maggie Tideswell lives in Johannesburg, South Africa with her husband, Gareth. She started writing when her kids were still very young, squeezing a few paragraphs at a time in between the hectic schedule of raising three children and working full time in the catering industry.

She wrote many books before she thought about getting them published. Now that the children have all made lives for themselves, there is more time for writing.

Maggie’s choice of genre, after much experimentation, is passionate paranormal romance, of varying levels of heat. The current series, Bridesmaids, Weddings & Honeymoons, were intended to be straight forward passionate romance, without the paranormal, but before long there was a ghost on the page. The best thing to do was to give the ghost something to do. As the series progress, so does the paranormal aspect of the four couples’ love lives, until the culmination in the final book.

Maggie’s advice to aspirant novelists is two-fold. Never give up and write every day. Writing is a craft that has to be honed with practice. And the only way to practice writing is by doing it. And a bonus, never stop reading your favorite genre. Reading it and writing it is the only training for
a writer.

Friday, October 9, 2015

With this ring I thee wed

The tradition of exchanging wedding rings goes back many centuries, and are part of the wedding customs of many different nations and
religions.

The origin of the wedding ring reaches back to
prehistoric times. The groom would bind the bride’s ankles and wrists
with grass to keep her soul from escaping or was it really to
keep her from running away? After the ceremony he would tie the 'rope' to one of her fingers.

Ancient Egyptian brides have been depicted in hieroglyphics wearing wedding bands. To the these people living around 4800 years ago, a circle symbolized eternity. These rings were made from woven reeds, papyrus and rushed. As these didn't last very long, more durable material substituted the biodegradable materials until precious metals were used. The metal rings were far from perfect and precious stones like diamonds were added to hide the flaws. Diamonds, because of their enduring quality, also symbolize eternity and became associated with love.

In Roman times the wedding ring took on a more romantic meaning. Not
only did married women

have a right to their husbands' worldly
possessions, the wedding ring also served as a sign that the wife had
unlocked her husband's heart. In order to symbolize this, a key was
often part of the wedding ring.
To the ancients, the circle was the symbol of eternity, with no beginning or end. The hole in the
center of the ring also had significance. It wasn’t just considered a
space, but rather a gateway, or door; leading to things and events both
known and unknown. To give a woman a ring signifies never-ending and
immortal love.

Originally only women wore wedding rings as a token of possession in the sense that the married woman belonged to her husband, hence wedlock. Traditionally men didn't wear wedding rings, but since the great wars, when the soldiers wore wedding rings as a reminder of the wife and family and home waiting for their safe return, there has been a shift until today it is the norm for men to wear them as well.

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About Me

Bestselling South African author Maggie Tideswell has a passion for romance. All over the world
people are falling in love and she just has to write about it. Ghosts can't
seem to leave her alone and she combines things that can't be explained, sweaty
bodies in rumpled beds in a way that will make your toes curl and your hair
stand on end.
Maggie can't do without perfume, a cup of tea and the internet.

She is nearly
as passionate about food as she is about creating alpha heroes every woman will
fall in love with as she does, every time. And boy, can she cook! The strangest
thing is that cats have never played any kind of role in her stories, as she is
owned by two of them.